Modern aircraft construction typically involves assembly of a voluminous number of parts and subassemblies. Efforts to minimize sheer numbers of parts are continuously being sought, as any reductions in physical numbers of parts translate directly into cost savings, as well as reduced complexity of structures involved.
In today's manufacturing environment, many of the subassemblies may be contracted to third parties for manufacture and subsequent installation into the overall aircraft structure. The simpler the subassembly, the simpler and less expensive will be overall costs of an aircraft.
Toward this end, efforts have been directed to maximizing interchangeability of parts in, for example, left and right side airframe devices, such as left-hand and right hand transmissions or gearboxes utilized in tilt rotor aircraft. Such interchangeability, for example, may permit one gearbox to be rotatable in a clockwise direction, while the other, using interchangeable or common parts, may be rotatable in a counterclockwise direction.